Million Light Years
by ZephyrAlchemist
Summary: [Spoilers] Please have finished the series before reading this fic! One long year has passed and Kaito is still trying to move on, feelings will always linger and some days are harder than others. Will this one be any different? Kaito/Ichika. Light Tetsurou/Mio.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Ano Natsu de Matteru or anything associated with it. This is simply a work of fan tribute to this amazing and touching anime series. Seriously. I cried like a baby through the last couple of episodes. Enjoy!

...

Kaito sighed as he brought his outstretched arm down onto his alarm clock; it was too early to be waking up on a day off from school. But such is the life of a teenager who desperately needs money for summer break. Kaito sighed again as he saw the framed picture of himself and Ichika on his desk, a gift from Remon Sempai on the day she left school for good. The picture, taken from a film clip Remon recorded showed Kaito and Ichika resting their heads together, Kaito could clearly remember their glasses clinking together during this moment as well.

The young man wiped a tear out of his eye as he looked at the picture, today would be another difficult one as so many were after Ichika was stolen away from him. Kaito was not a depressed individual by any stretch of the imagination however he was unable to get over his relationship with the lovely alien girl, and how could he? They did both admit to love each other forever on that fateful train ride, their last tender moments together.

The black haired teen sighed again as he slowly dressed in his work attire. "Hopefully I'll be able to save up enough money to buy that new camera in time for the summer holiday; maybe a new film will break me out of this slump." He shook off the last remnants of sleep as he tied his shoes and headed towards the door. "All I can think of is Ichika when I think of movies though…" the boy trailed off "Aahhhgah! Why do I keep worrying about this? Ichika is gone and with the way the 'Galactic Federation' seems to be run I know she'll never come back. But why is she so hard to get out of my head?" He ran his fingers through his hair and looked upwards, a few stars still lingering as dawn crept over the mountains. If the young man was a little more awake he would have noticed the blue light streaking down behind the mountains at that exact moment.

...

Ichika screamed as her ship began breaking up as she entered the atmosphere of earth. "Oh not again!" Once more the young girl's ship was battered by debris as she drove through the solar system that housed the little blue planet that was so full of life. She knew all the hardships she had endured over the past year would be all worth it if she got to see Kaito's face again. The girl gripped the steering column and braced herself for another hard landing; she had plotted her course for the field behind Kaito's home however it looked like she would be a few miles north of her planned destination. 'And without Rinon around to teleport me, this is the worst possible time for me to have patience!' she screamed inwardly at herself, sadly it couldn't be helped as she glanced out her window and saw Kaito's house pass underneath her at a rapid rate and dip behind a mountain range. After turning her attention forward Ichika braced herself for major impact as her ship came down hard into a local river, a plume of frothy water rose up in her wake before the river settled down and enveloped her ship in its embrace.

The girl hopped out of her ship with a bag in tow, supplies for her first night back on Earth if she was unable to reunite with Kaito as soon as she had hoped. A change of clothes and some food as her dark purple jumpsuit might cause some unwanted attention. She pressed two buttons on her watch before setting off to find a place to change, one to activate the cloaking feature and another to deactivate the automatic distress beacon. Even though the Earth was now a class D planet she didn't want to risk any situations like the last time she made a crash landing.

After finding a suitable location to change into a more comfortable pair of Earth clothes the red haired girl set off to the south, determined to be reunited with her Kaito after a grueling year apart.

...

Kaito walked into work that morning feeling a little better about himself, the crisp morning air helped him clear his head and get in a better mood, some feelings still lingered but he had become fairly good at repressing them. Well at least in situations where moping around was grounds for termination or failed classes, after all there was plenty of time for that outside his professional life. The black haired boy trudged into the back room of the local grocery store he now worked at ready to stock vegetables all day for very little money. He sighed and thought to himself 'Well at least it keeps my mind busy'. After getting his apron on and greeting his coworkers the young man set off to work, not knowing just how eventful this day of his would be.

...

"Of all the outfits to choose I had to pick this one!" Ichika cursed out loud to no one in particular. She had gone with the clothes she wore on her second day on Earth; something she thought would bring a smile to Kaito's face. She however neglected the fact that the outfit also contained shoes that were not meant for trekking through the brush of the local forest as every three steps she took caused her to stumble or fall over. "Rinon at this rate I'm going to be a mess before I even make it to the road!" she pouted at her pet, tears starting to bead at the corner of her eyes. Rinon simply urged her on however for different reasons, the little pink ball really wanted some cup ramen, and she hadn't had any since her return trip to Ichika's side.

Kaito was in the middle of filling a bin with fresh tomatoes for the day when his best friend barged into his department. "Yo, Kaito!" yelled the tall blue haired Tetsurou "How's everything going today?" he asked.

"Could be better, but could be worse I guess. One of those days, at least works keeping me busy!" He said with a forced smile. "Oh, where's Mio?" he asked looking around the store.

"She went looking for something to cook for dinner today, I'll make sure she comes and say hello before we leave though. You still saving up for our trip in a few weeks?"

"Sure am! Not sure why you guys want to go to the beach again, I mean variety is the spice of life!" He said the last part while waving his arms around the produce surrounding him, all different kinds of fruits and vegetables.

Tetsurou laughed. "Well at least your sense of humor is still intact! I swear we thought you were never going to be the same after those first few months. Glad to have my buddy back." He patted Kaito on the shoulder. The shorter boy smiled.

"Well you guys really helped me get through everything; sure I still miss her more than anything but each day is getting better and better. I doubt I'll ever truly get over Ichika but friends like you guys sure are a big help!"

"Well you know we're always going to be here for you buddy! Anyway I have to get back to Mio before she decides to make something too sweet for dinner again. Give me a call if you want to hang out after work!" The young men shook hands and as Tetsurou turned around to leave both were stopped dead in their tracks by a bright haired girl wearing large circular glasses.

"Excuse me could you point me in the direction of your juice?" The girl asked a clerk at the front of the store.

"Sure Miss it's all lined up right next to the produce, Kaito over there can help you find what you're looking for!" She said with a smile.

Tetsurou looked at Kaito slack jawed, was this really happening? He had to get Mio. With that thought he took off running in the opposite direction. Kaito simply dropped the watermelon he was holding, drenching the floor in its sticky sweet juices. He took a shaky step towards 'Is it really her? Or did I finally snap' he asked himself as he took another step. Before he could take another the girl charged at him in full sprint "Kaito!" she screamed tears pouring down her cheeks. The young man met her stride for stride and they collided mere seconds later in a warm embrace. Kaito gently lifted her off the ground as they spun around together lips locked in a seemingly endless kiss. Both were crying and neither of them cared, Kaito knew he would get fired for this display while on the clock but money was so far out of his mind at this point.

Finally the two of them broke the kiss gasping for air. Ichika rested her forehead on Kaito's and whispered to him "I told you I'd love you forever."

"And I never doubted you." Was his simple reply as they became locked in another kiss.

Nearby Mio grabbed onto Tetsurou's hand, tear stains streaking down her face. "I'm glad she came back, those two were meant to be together." Tetsurou squeezed her hand tighter. "Millions of light years brought those two together and those same millions couldn't keep them apart." They both smiled at each other and turned around to leave the building, not wanting to spoil the other couples special moment.

Meanwhile at MIB Japan headquarters a short girl with long pigtails smiled as she turned her close circuit TV off. "Fufufufu" she laughed to herself, proud of what she had done to reunite the couple.

AN: WOW! This took me far too long to write! I had a horrible case of the rewrites and writers block on the first half of this, I kept repeating what I was writing and deleting parts because I wasn't happy with them and almost thought I'd never finish this story. I'm still not happy with the first half but I kept powering though and got into a groove once the grocery store scene hit, maybe playing the opening and ending to the anime helped. Anyways I'm probably 50% happy with this, I still have ideas and might continue with it but we'll see how things turn out. For the time being if you liked it feel free to let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Same as previous chapter.**

Kaito grabbed Ichika's hand and led her outside the building not caring in the slightest what kind of punishment he was in for when his bosses discovered what happened to him today. It was simply a situation he would deal with at a later date when he wasn't about to jump out of his skin in pure bliss. Ichika was back and hopefully for good. As the couple stood in front of the store Kaito took the girls other hand and swung them in between the two. "There are millions of questions I want to ask you and I have no clue where to even begin."

"Well let's start off by making up for lost time." She responded, giving him a warm smile and moving in for a second kiss. At this moment the two existed only in pure bliss.

…

Kanna stood in front of her bedroom mirror admiring herself in its reflection. She had let her hair grow out slightly over the past school year and it now hung just below her chin. 'Well I have more options now' she thought to herself playing with a loose strand. The young girl had been preparing to go visit Kaito at work today, knowing he disliked his job and hoping she could brighten his day, even if it was only by a small fraction.

Her feelings for the black haired boy had not faded over time and she would lay awake every night hoping he would finally return her feelings even if the chances of that happening were slim. She grabbed her bag, "Maybe I can even convince him to have lunch with me today after he gets off work!" she shouted out loud which drew some questioning looks from her mother as she descended the stairs.

"I'll be home before dinner mom!" she shouted as she slipped on her shoes and ran out the door.

Kanna kept up a brisk pace walking down the quiet country road that led to the grocery store her beloved Kaito worked at, she was in an amazing mood that would only be bolstered by seeing the object of her affection in person. 'This summer I'm going to reveal my true feelings to Kaito, we've gotten so close this past year by being in the same class again and I know good things will happen!' she thought as she rose her fist in a victory stance.

The blue haired girl started humming to herself as she skipped up the road, eyes closed not wanting to waste any time, and she was far too excited to dawdle around. But the feelings of good fortune she had weren't going to last forever. As she rounded the corner and slowly opened her eyes she almost couldn't believe what she saw.

"Well let's start off by making up for lost time." The red haired girl told Kaito as the two moved in for a kiss.

Kanna dropped her bag on the hard sidewalk, her mouth rising and falling but no words escaping her lips. It was Ichika. She blinked and shook her head a few times, not wanting to believe what she was seeing. She opened her eyes and they were still locked in a deep kiss. Eyes closed then open again and the two were still holding each other. At this point she knew her eyes were telling the truth and giant tears began to well up around her sapphire eyes, she screamed In heartbreak.

…

The newly reunited couple broke off their kiss and were simply content to hold each other for a moment, that was until a piercing scream rang out in the distance. They both turned their heads in the direction of the noise in time to see a streak of blue run off in the opposite direction. They turned to one another and shrugged neither knowing what it was that made the noise or just how much hurt one of their friends was in at this moment.

…

The tears were free falling at this point as Kanna ran. She kept running back up the path she just traveled leaving a wet trail in her wake which soaked into the ground that knew them well. Hundreds of questions raced through her head at that moment.

'How did she make it back?'

'How long has she been back?'

'Why can't Kaito return my feelings? Ichika isn't even human!'

'Why am I so alone?'

'Will I ever be happy?'

She didn't stop running until she flung the door to her bedroom open and threw herself onto her bed, only to crash into a large body that was not there when she left.

"I'm sorry, Kanna." The blue haired man said in a whisper.

Kanna picked up a pillow, not wanting Tetsurou to see her bloodshot eyes.

"Don't you have somewhere to be with Mio?" she asked bitterly through the pillow.

"She thought it would be better if I talked to you alone."

"Just go away."

"Why? So you can wallow in misery alone?" He questioned.

This question only earned a simple whine from the girl as she forced herself onto the bed and curled up into a fetal position clutching a pillow to her chest.

"Leave me alone. You have no idea what I'm feeling right now." She said. Her voice was completely flat. Tetsurou was having none of it.

"You think I don't know how you feel!?" as he yelled as he rolled a sock off his foot. "You see this mark?" Kanna poked her head over the pillow; there was a large red scar on the side of his right foot. "I did this last summer because my feelings were so jumbled up! On one hand I wanted nothing more than for you to be happy but at the same time I was ignoring my own feelings for you. I was so torn on what to think that I ended up kicking a fence in frustration."

The girl buried her face into her pillow once again.

"I had to do a lot of soul searching after that, I got into a fight with my sister and even hung up on Kai for being the focal point of your heartache. But after a long night of anger and frustration I came to the conclusion that you would never care for me the way I cared for you and that was just fine, things don't always work out the way you want and sometimes we just need to move on. I'll always have this scar to remember what happened that summer and remind myself to never let that happen again." He paused for a breath "Does that make any sense?" he asked as he rolled his sock back over his wound.

Kanna paused for a moment, still sobbing into her pillow.

"Just leave me alone." With that she rolled over to face away from him and threw her blanket over her head. Tetsurou left without saying another word.

…

Kaito and Ichika walked hand in hand down the long road through the fields that led to the home that they both shared so many memories in. Neither of them spoke, while there were stories to be told and questions to be asked the two were just happy to be together once again and shared the walk in blissful silence.

…

"How is she holding up?" Mio asked her boyfriend as he closed the door to the home of a broken heart behind him.

Tetsurou shrugged. "Can't say, she just kept telling me to leave her alone. I just hope she takes what I told her to heart."

Mio gave him a reassuring smile. "You have a knack for cheering people up, I'm sure she'll be fine. But we should check up on her later and make sure she is hanging in there." Tetsurou nodded in agreement and placed an arm around the petite girls shoulder as they set off back into town. Neither of them noticed the lock of blue hair turning away from the upstairs window.

"Sometimes we just need to move on…." Kanna whispered to herself. "If only things were that simple" And with that she let out another heartbroken sob.

AN: Part two!

I didn't plan on writing any angst/drama when I started this story but it was such a major part of the anime and in order to capture the feel of the show I felt inclined to include this bit.

I also hate putting Kanna through this kind of pain, she was such a great character in the series and I felt so bad that she ended up getting the short end of the stick when things were all said and done. The scene where she has a confrontation with Ichika and then cries her eyes out with Tetsurou is one of the most emotional scenes I've ever seen in any anime. Don't get me wrong, Kaito and Ichika make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside but a little part of me was cheering poor Kanna on until the very end of the show.

More to come very soon!


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